Vex'd Cloud Seed

Easter is a time for resurrections, so it's wholly appropriate that Planet Mu have chosen this time of year to reacquaint us with Vex'd, a London based dubstep collaboration between Jamie Teasdale and Roly Porter. Due to geographic constraints they were rarely able to work together and unfortunately never managed to complete their second album.

The sessions for that album and a number of remixes have been pulled together to make Cloud Seed. No attempt has been made to revisit or reappraise the material, most of it produced in 2006 and 2007. This is a grime heavy, near apocalyptic vision of London. Whilst not as harrowing or bleak as Burial, Vex'd also existed in a broken down world, their landscape blighted and ravaged by the clatter and buzz of industrial noise - although not overwhelmingly so. Their funky beats and intelligent programming propels this electronic machine forward.

Their choice of collaboration partners is as inspired as their musical aptitude. Deep throated MC's like Jest juxtapose with the beautiful vocal talents of Anneka. This varied palette of performers keeps things lively whilst ensuring the album has subtle dynamics of light and shade.

When working purely instrumentally the duo are equally sturdy. ‘Out Of The Hills’ is an incredible dub-centric behemoth, hurled from the loins of The Orb's early material. It is the sound of the world's grooviest monster smashing up an abandoned warehouse. Layers build upon layers to create cacophonies of multi-faceted rhythms.

With material this strong it's clear why the label were unwilling to let it gather dust on a pile of floppy disks in the corner of the office. It's almost as if no time has passed, the material is still fresh. The duo were always streets ahead of many of their contemporaries and few have caught up with their vision and technical skill. With new electronic genres appearing almost weekly Cloud Seed demonstrates that their legacy was one of quality material not bound by trends or fads.